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9 lb 7.5 oz

The Bardiche seems to have descended from the Danish Axe. Though classified as a polearm, it is essentially an exceptionally large axe, landing it somewhere between these two catagories. The short haft allowed it to be used in close quarters, and gave good manuevering leverage to the warrior wielding it. Needless to say, the large axe head chopped and crushed even the mightiest of foes with a single fell swing. Not even copious amounts of grand armor would spare the man solidly struck with the great weight and power of the bardiche. For support the bardiche is ‘’double mounted’’ at its bottom of the blade. The head terminates in a wickedly curved tip that could be used to thrust and hook the foe.

The Bardiche was most popular in Eastern Europe and particularly in Russia. It is a weapon associated with the Russian Streltsy of the Renaissance era - a Tsarist Guard Force tasked with defending and patrolling Moscow and forming a strong arm of the army in times of war. The Streltsy could use their bardiches not only for intimidation, but to great effect in a melee. They also used the bardiche as a stand for their gunpowder weapons - resting their arquebuses on the top of the haft with the bardiche planted in the ground whilst they trained their guns on the foe.

This Bardiche by Darksword Armory has a thick, unsharpened blade of high carbon steel. It is mounted to a wooden haft and pinned in place on the lower part of the blade.

Although this item is listed as battle ready, it is not guaranteed that the wooden haft will not break under use when striking against a hard object. The axehead is strong, but the wooden haft is not crafted from the harder woods ideal for this object. Also, the head can rattle, as the top part of the blade is secured to the haft with a filler insert and the pinned section can have some slight movement.